I am a self-prescribed boring person who loves to talk and dance.If I was a man, I imagine I would take a liking to the Pipe. Mainly because I would rather seat and have "discussions"on politics, History, and Football, rather than be out on the dance floor or buckling on who is most righteous.
I am a contradiction at best.
So welcome to my thoughts on Politics and Society, and media's role in that

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

"I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition."...F. Castro

Since I started graduate school, I have been fazing in and out of my socialism and Communism class. Well really I should probably mention that there are a couple of brownnosers in the class and being that half of the time I wanted to wring Marx and Engel's necks...it did not help with my situation. But then I began thinking on the consequences of Capitalism....Since Capitalism is the father American Economy, I wondered how this could be the reason for third world socialism.SO what do you know, I am doing a research paper on that. THIRD WORLD SOCIALISM...okay someone shoot me now....before I turn into a socialist myself. haha SYKE! not gonna happen.

Okay so we know that most of the third world is poor and well they have no choice but socialism. Not that capitalism is doing any good in the US now, especially with the present economy.Fidel Castro, in all his magnimonity was the one quoted saying, " They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?" And he is right, Capitalism seems to have failed everyone else but Americans. ( I could go into theories of why this is the case...but lets not do that now)Socialism has failed too...it has caused as much as capitalism has..."wars and competition" However, in the developing nations, it is easier to be a socialist than a capitalist. Not to mention to an extent, capitalism and Capitalists have driven it to be so.For example, Somalia. if you don't know the awful situation there, well go and do some research.Somalia is one of those nations that was able to kick the US out of the country after trying to"save" it. It is one of those international humiliations that Clinton will never live down. it is also has become a very very dangerous area for the US. Not to mention harboring those pirates we keep hearing of. To be honest, I admire these young somalians. They are stupid for sure, but they figured, they had to take the chance that no well meaning, well reasoned person would ever take- attacking an american vessel.History has rendered that the US-Somali relations will always be rocky. The US butts in wanting to put in some kind of Capitalist economy, and that fails. then off course now they are threatening to stop food from flowing into a country whose people have no government nor food. These people are dying, and all US can think of is...well, they kinda deserve it.In some ways, the US is no better than those terrorists really. I know that is a radical thought. LEt me explain this..Terrorism by defination is...

1.

the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

2.

the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.

3.

a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

In many ways also...the US is much better off that terrorist. but at the game here...I am talking about Somalia. How can you deny people food when they are starving...especially when more than half of your food ends up in the garbage. isn't this a coercion by using food as means of bargain. Plus, as the word goes, you incite fear/terror in people that it is hard to have independent thinking. NO country wants to piss the US off and give Somali food. Otherwise they would be on the next terrorist list. Forget International problems...what about local problems? I mean seriously...people in the US are starving...EVERYDAY, and the US gvt with its red tape does not have any viable solutions on how to give all the excess food to those people who are in desparate need of it.

Monday, September 28, 2009

(I am aware of the ethical implications of having two blogs on the same day, but today, is just that day that one needs to have more than one blog...and its okay. As I write this, it is my fifth blog of the day, and its only 3:30pm)

In my short career in politics, I am yet to meet a man or politician who has had the ability to earn my admiration and loathing at the same time. That is a great task to achieve. The honor goes to none other than Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi or simply....GADDAFI!If you had the honor of watching his 15 minute turned 90 minutes speech at the GA of the UN, you noticed a lot head turnings, and alot of twisting in the chairs...most I should say by African leaders who are members of the AU and who I might add voted him as their leader. Not that I like calling people names but does "idiots" fit in this category? oh I enjoyed reading The Wall Street Journal on the 24th, especially since it had Ali Abdussalim of Libya hanging in shame.The man ripped up a copy of the UN charter; called the Security Council a "terrorism" council; declared a two-state solution in the Middle East unatainable, and proposed a lifetime term for US President Barack Obama. I am very surprised it took him only 90 minutes. Okay, so no leader has been this bold for a long long time. Actually scratch that..>NEVER> and alas it had to be an african leader- a mad one at that.You think I am exagerating, well, his delegation arrives in the US where no one wanted to put him up. I mean, he was literally not welcome anywhere in states. He ends up pitching a tent in Bedford on a property owned by Trump. And just like his style, he appears before the UN regally like the prince he believes himself to be. After calling Obama "our Son" continuously, I wonder why Obama did not invite him to the UN reception. Yikes, that must have hurt.Albeit he was shably treated by NY State. He needed the respect that every leader deserves...he might be crazy, but we are not in high school anymore where you could treat bad people by shunning them away and mistreating them. Imagine if Obama visited the middle East and got the same treatment that Gaddafi got. Imagine the image now that Libyans have of America. Oh, and this was Gaddafi's first visit to the US. So he probably won't be coming back.40 years in power and the man is still a symbol of either madness or sheer brilliance. That is where he gets my admiration. He pretty much gave the middle finger to the world. But he also pointed out something that I agree with...(its kinda hard not to find something to agree with in a 90 minute speech.) he said that Article 2 of the United Nations Charter states that the "Organisation is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members". But as Gaddafi rightly pointed out, in practice this isn't the case as long as the Security Council is a closed club of big powers.he noted that while the UN was set up in 1945 to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", it has failed dismally in that task. There have been 65 wars since the establishment of the Security Council, he said, waged in the interests of "one country, or three countries or four countries".Oh but he lost it again when he started having conspiracy theories on Swine flu and the Assasination of JFK. Thats probably why to some the speech he gave was brilliant and to some, pure madness and ramblings of a mad man.

So now I wonder...after all the history of bad blood between this leader and the US or rather the West...what was the AU thinking? Electing him as the President of the AU...and basically giving him power of negociation between that organization and others international entities. As if they are not facing enough trouble, they had to lose face infront of the International community.

"Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."

It’s a common story that we have all heard, or lived. A man wakes up and realizes his life is a complete mess. Not just his mental capacity, but physically, his surroundings are just in shambles. His bed is never made, papers and magazines are stacked all over the place, and dirty clothes lie on the floor. What is he to do? So he decides that he needs to take charge of his life.Where to start? Order. This is among the personal virtues among the 13.

We never think of this, because to some of us...well order is just a very very tedious task...(ask me in HS, and I would have told you of stories of how I hated to clean my room) Then I moved to college, and well, disorder was my way of rebellion from everything that I was taught as a child. Then I would feel guilt, and I would clean my room, and then after two days, it would be in a tidy mess again. This by the way, still happens today. Except my excuse this time, I am working on clearing my junk and keeping what I need.

Now to the question of the Why?Why is it so hard to keep order? Hmm...yes, the basic answer to that is Entropy. Every time that man creates order, he goes against this force. You agree with me that it easier to keep a messy room than a tidy room...Here is a scientific explanation....

The first law of thermodynamics tells us there is a fixed amount of energy in the universe. Energy can be changed from one form to another, but never created or destroyed.

Although energy cannot be destroyed, it is of little use to anyone if it cannot make things happen. Unfortunately, the second law of thermodynamics tells us all energy changes decrease the amount of useful energy in the universe.

Consider a box of small magnets. If the small magnets are lined up in the same direction, as a group they can attract other metal objects. If they are not lined up in the same direction, individual magnets cancel each other’s effect and cannot do useful work. The same is true of energy – it is useful when it is ordered, but when it is disordered, its effects cancel each other out.

Entropy is a measure of the lack of order in the energy.

Now, since I am not a scientist, I am probably not sure how to expound on this, from its basic understanding. Or my basic understanding stated above.The secret to beating this is well, being efficiently efficient. Easier said than done. But the idea that if you have to make order, you have to act. You have to be able to just stand up, and do it, at that moment, without giving yourself excuses of "later"

Thursday, September 24, 2009

"Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; Avoid trifling Conversation"

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt". ~ Mark TwainSilence is really one of the hardest things to practice. No offense but especially to women. I find that sometimes, I JUST CAN"T SHUT UP!. Its a disease.but Why is silence a virtue?Have you ever tuned out or tried to tune out everything, to just have silence? Other might call this inner peace, but essentially, to be silent is to find peace. Or the inner escape.BF however speak of silence as basically "know when to speak, and when you do, make sure it is not rubbish"I mean, how hard is that, in this modern world...where technology is king, and you can speak without ever having to open your mouth. We have twitter, facebook, myspace, Hi5 and my favorite, Bebo---all which really point to our vanity.So how do we avoid being so trifling in our conversations?Here are a few things you could do:1. Don’t talk on your cell phone when you have a captive audience.It needs not explanation...it is simply rude.

2. Don’t talk or answer your cell phone while talking to ANYONE in person.I am yet to meet anyone who loves to be the third party in at two-way conversation. Not cool

3. Don’t use your phone in any place in which people expect a certain atmosphere.like the Libraries, Banks..if you speak in a restaurant, don't be the idiot who speaks loudly for everyone to know what you are saying.

4. Never say something to a stranger on the internet that you would not say to a stranger in person.As if the internet is not full of rubbish already. Think before you write.

5. Don’t attack people personallylisten, it is everyone's prerogative to have an opinion and to disagree with anyone. But do not attack them personally. That is not only uncalled for, but is show poor means of argument.

6. Don’t just debunk thingsGUILTY as charged. I love to disagree, but do not just disagree for the sake of disagreeing. Do not be mean just to be mean...and by goodness sake, do not be a cynic unless you have some good points to make.

7. Stop the excessive vulgarityNothing shows a juvenile mentality and a lack of class like excessive vulgarity. If you need to use these words, then there is really nothing meaningful that you needed to say. I mean, getting salty in a conversation is not a crime, but if every three words are followed by F- then you might need to go back to language school.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

To have study BF it would be a mistake to assume that for this virtue to be the first, was a matter of coincidence. After a close look at what it really means to own up to this particular virtue, you find that it is a foundation for the next twelve...or rather a foundation for life.Temperance is defined as " moderation in action, thought, or feeling OR habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions" (Webster Dictionary)Look at the definition, is there anything really appealing to the idea of restraint? Its not sexy, it is not "rational" to the modern world where we are taught to take, take and take it all if you can. This is the world where more is better, and less is just an ugly word. If one can master Temperance, then the rest comes easy. If you master the art of moderation of appetites, then the rest is not much to conquer. You see, eating and drinking are some of our primary and most demanding primal urges. Without either, you die, and too much of it, and that also leads to its own kind of destruction.In the words of BF...temperance "tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual temptations"...and there you have it ladies and gentlemen.

Even so, the importance of temperance is emphasized by the fact that, it is one of the four cardinal virtues in the ancient "hellenic"greek culture...and one of the seven heavenly virtues.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I had Posted this on Facebook, but decided that it is better suited here....

Lets face it, I love history, and I enjoy reading about historical figures. I wish some of them were alive so I could have a shot at marrying one of them...haha. A gal can dream right?

Anyways, one of my favorite people, (after I read his work) is Ben Franklin. There are some points of his theories that I do not agree with. Simply because Deism for me is sourced from One being. That would be maybe the one point we might not agree with. Lets not forget that he was claimed to be major skirt chaser...(although this might never really be confirmed)Anyways, so my days at Malone were spent mostly in history and pol sci books. While I owe a lot of my political growth to Dr. Waalkes, I owe my appreciation for history to Dr. Miller, but this particular interest Ben Franklin is owed to the one and only Dr. Case.A while after my study of Ben Franklin while in High School, I learned about his 13 virtues. But I never gave them thought until I was in College.After carefully reading the autobiography and then some biography, I came to appreciate these virtues.

Franklin admitted that he was never able to live the virtues perfectly nor really accomplish them all, but admittedly become a better and happier man for having made the attempt to follow these virtues.I have adopted these virtues, and I think them so honorable that if we were all to try and live by these, the world and us for that matter would be better for it.

Therefore, for the next 13 days, I am going to do something I did a while back. I took each of these virtues and wrote and explored them in my personal journals. Now I want to do this again...it has become what I have found to be a "healthy" habitJoin me for the journey.....

Here are the virtues simply listed...Ps: if you look at the virtues closely, you see that they range from personal to social traits. 1. "TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation." 2. "SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation." 3. "ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time." 4. "RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." 5. "FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing." 6. "INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions." 7. "SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly." 8. "JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty." 9. "MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve." 10. "CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation." 11. "TRANQUILITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."12. "CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation." 13. "HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates." (this will be interesting)

Friday, September 18, 2009

For a small country, Cuba has a way of shaking things a bit.How is it...that a nation...scratch that..an empire like the US has no idea if Castro is dead or alive?Seriously, he is becoming my favorite villain. he is sleek, he is deadly. The man has the US guessing for years. (Unless of course he is dead, in which case, Raul is very smart on protecting his brother) btw...this is the same Raul who met with the USSR back then.

Unless of course the US knows he is dead, and the CIA are running things in Cuba. That is another option, or rather theory...but then there is Raul, which means that this theory is rubbish. So lets think about Castro. He was in power for 50 years or so...managed to piss off 10 US presidents (lucky Obama, he came just in time for Raul) Either way, he made sure that the US became the "big bad neighbor" and managed to get sympathy from some pretty powerful countries. (was very low key on support here) and the missile crisis did not help much either. Then, managed to get Hugo Chavez into his grip...I would say the man is well, in a weird sense, to be admired.He was the same one who was caught saying, "I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition.",...Never mind that he is right on this. But at the same time wrong on the issue...but still there are economists who will be quoting him for a long time.

Cuba oh Cuba...poor, and socialist...but they still have better health care system than the US. Now how about that!

it is also amazing that there can be so many misunderstandings among people.

Glen Beck, well the poor man...I understand his fears especially with his daughter...but he has a responsibility to his listeners and if he inflames fear in them, off course the whole public is going to be in a propagated chaos.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

We have too many of them.And it is no surprise that most of them are men.Surprise Surprise......It is about a week later and I had to finish this post. I just had to...because I am just not sure that some people understand the ramifications of being a hothead.By hotheads, I mean know it alls.

Every generation has them. and eventually they either become bitter or dillusioned old men or women. It happens....well actually some of them are lucky enough to have the saving grace of being wise.Lately, I have had the pleasure if not the horror of encoutering some people, who call themselves deists, or atheists. Very interesting concepts. Now, these are self-proclaimed know-it-alls. and at my age, we all have gone through this, and I am probably still going through some of it.I mean, we think we know it all, we think that there can never be truth beyond what we know. My saving grace has been that, I really do not think that I know it all. and that I know that I am not as stupid as I seem. that being said...I also know that there is part of life that I will never be able to explain, and that with my finite brain, I cannot possibly embody ALL truth. We want truth..unfortunately, we are just born to be that. Naturally curious. However, wanting truth, is not the same as pursuing truth. I mean, honestly, and fervently pursuing truth. Some of us find the truth faster, and some of us, well, we just lag behind a bit, thinking we are the best, and we have cracked the code of life. This we forget that, there are people who have lived past 100 years, and even they still haven't cracked that code. So what makes us think that at 16 , 19 or 23, we know what truth is? or what life is all about?Hotheads is actually another word for arrogance. Let me go back to the Deists and Atheists wannabes. I say Wannabes, because thats it, they don't really know what they believe in. They claim in (picture this in an oratory manner), "I was Once fooled, but now my eyes are open and I KNOW THE TRUTH" aka, those stupid morons that we call our elders know nothing, and we the hotheads, young hip generation...know what truth is. We have been ENLIGHTENED! You know Franklin was truly an man of enlightment...and even he did not embody arrogance, or claiming to know the truth. and he was a deist.When talking to these people, I get testy, because I know that these enlightened wannabes, will be the rubbish leaders of tomorrow. So I shake my head and walk away sometimes. Because if it is anything I have learned, you cannot reason with stupidity.

Friday, September 11, 2009

my guess will be yes, we are that dumb.Eight years ago, there was hit, and pretty serious that it shook the world. After all, it was America. The world superpower!But how soon we forget about that.What happened to that to all those people who on 9/12/2001 were flying American flags from their homes, and on their cars?

Every disagreement dissipated. No longer were we Republicans or Democrats. No longer were we white or black. THERE WAS UNITY. Now, I am not fond of all things America, but on that day I was proud to see people united, people coming together. I was proud to be a student here...( I was also scared out of my mind...and would have taken the first flight back home if I could)

But it wasn’t long thereafter that the display of flags dwindled and that unity, well just turned into hatred. Things did change...if you would call it positive. Now we have colors for emergency alerts, and there are definitely more restrictions on travel. But who are we kidding, things are just as normal...only that every year, on 9/11, there is the false sense of unity.

Are we forgetting? Maybe not, but people, well I think that they no longer thought it a relevant memory for a life change.

Soon, this will be another Pearl Harbor, even though according to Roosevelt, that day was to live in infamy. Now, some kids in school do not even know what December 7, 1941 represents. In fact not even some of the adults could say they have a knowing of what that date represents.

I am not American, but I know that this day was important enough for it to mean something.So what is bad about dedicating this day to be the day of Service? how about being so meaningful and actually do something worthwhile. Remember those lives by serving others....is that so bad?

But as human beings, we are so dumb sometimes. Really, because we want the flowers and the tears...I gues that is what memorials are about...but what about doing something useful.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

I am going to skeet off political issues a bit, and maybe deal with this tid bit that we call humanity.That title is the new movie by Tyler Perry.I can do bad all by Myself...and to which Mary J. Blige sings the titled song that is sure to make it into the charts. However, now I am examining at the pain and suffering that is represented in the movie. I admit, I have a weakness, and that is people who are going through pain. I seem to have a radar for that, and it breaks me every time. I am still working on getting to know how to control heartache in the midst of pain. But I gues you cannot just turn that off, and on.The act of caring for others is called common decency, and I wonder why we lack that as days go by.Why is it we lack compassion? Why is it, instead of helping each other, we turn against each other like leeches, feeding on other people's misery? Does it makes us feel better to not care? Does it make us feel better to just make sure that someone else is suffering more than you are?As it is said, pain is a price to pay sometimes, but some seem to have a bit more than their share, and I wonder if it would break us to just help those people out. I wonder if it would hurt to be kind to others.Would it kill us, to stretch out our hand and help out? would it hurt our pride? Would it makes feel less than we are?

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Read the title, and find it not so shocking. If you think I am wrong, then you might need to revisit your history.Republicans have disgusted me lately. I mean really.....but then so have democrats. This is to say, I am neither a liberal nor a conservative, which gives me an objective on the matter of principled politics. Here is my beef with both, especially when it comes to faith. Conservatives seem to think that they are carrying God's agenda. Democrats seem to rebel to this because in truth, conservatives are not carrying God's agenda. For me, it brings a struggle to do God's will that always falls short of the goal. There is no where on earth that we will ever complete God's agenda, or even completely come to know of this agenda., so why are the Republicans tripping with morality all over their agenda. I seem to remember, they like their Democratic counterparts are sleezies, and can lie and cheat, and be adulterous as the rest of the other parties.

But let me bring it back to the reason why I am writing this article. Lately, Obama Addressed school kids. "Back to school " speech. But off course, it wouldn't be a speech without parents (mostly Reps by the way) freaking out because they are afraid of Nazi germany repeating. Actually that sounds stupid just writing it, so I am not sure what they are afraid of.I ask these same parents, where why they when President Bush Senior made similar assertions with the kids in 91. I mean, a republican says "Kids talk to me" and it is seen as an encouragement, but a democrat says the same and it is called propaganda, socialism, etc....I mean am i the only one who is seeing hypocrisies in this, and the idiocy in the reaction to Obama's speech?lets be fair, this event would have been so much tamer if Cable news hadn't just blown this out of proportion. Not to mention the newspapers.